“An Invitation To Walk In The Light” Christmas Eve, 2007

(First, read the text for this sermon: Isaiah 9:2-7)

On this evening, we gather in the darkness of night. We anticipate the light of Christmas morning!

The images of darkness and light are primal. They are prominent in that most familiar Christmas story we just read, from Luke. Also, from the prophet Isaiah, we read:

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness --
on them light has shined.

This passage from Isaiah contains verses that are beloved! When we read:

For a child has been born for us, …
… and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace --

we can’t help but sing the chorus from Handel’s Messiah: “For unto us a child is born …”

Messiah has become an indispensable part of the annual Christmas celebration for many of us. Each Christmas we also enjoy visits from loved ones and gifts and decorations and (for some) once a year worship …

The annual celebration is wonderful! I bring you the good news of this evening, though. It is an invitation to something much more life-changing and liberating than repeating the annual rituals that you and I have come to call “Christmas.” We are called by the scripture and by the liturgy of this night to be an everyday follower of this Jesus, whose birth we’re celebrating.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
on them light has shined.

God the Holy Spirit calls you and me to walk in that light!

Isaiah the prophet most probably uttered the words in this passage in chapter nine to celebrate the birth of a new crown prince, soon after the Syro-Epraimitic war of 734 BCE. Isaiah spoke words that were specific to that time and place. They were good news for an oppressed people! Isaiah spoke of the hope of overthrowing the Assyrians (the superpower of the day):

For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.

For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

The next verses are very much like a hymn that would be used in the enthronement ritual for the new crown prince who has just been born to continue the Davidic line:

For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Those last words describe a vision of perpetual peace! Of never-ending justice and righteousness! And so, the early church heard these promises and saw them fulfilled in Jesus. The early church understood these verses not just referring to the hoped for overthrow of the Assyrians eight centuries previous, but that the “great light” could be identified as Jesus!

They read,

those who lived in a land of deep darkness --
on them light has shined,

and they understood that light to be Jesus!

They read,

His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom,

and they understood that to refer to Jesus’ authority!

They read,

He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore,

and they understood this to be the justice and righteousness that Jesus had brought into the world.

So, too, do you and I hear these words and envision Jesus the Messiah. On this night we celebrate with great joy what God has done in Jesus the Christ! And the Holy Spirit moves among us on this night inviting us to walk in the light that is the Christ, walking in the ways that Isaiah calls to our attention and that are expanded by what we have seen in the revelation that is Jesus. Walking in the light that is the Christ means walking in the way of justice and righteousness for all who are oppressed politically and driven into poverty. It means walking in the way of peace-making and conflict resolution among those who are fighting each other, in our homes, in our communities, and in far-away nations.

The Holy Spirit invites you and me to walk in that light as it shines into our personal darkness, as well.

I read,

For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian --

and I think of all that are burdens for you and me, all that oppresses you and me.

What personal burdens do you carry, from which you need liberation? What for you is the “yoke” and the “bar” and the “rod?” Is it the “yoke” of fear? Is it the “bar” of anger and resentment? Is it the “rod” of regret? These ancient words of prophecy become good news of deliverance and liberation for you and me – from all destructive emotions that imprison us.

Deliverance and liberation are what Jesus the Christ brings! Light in the darkness! The Light now has a capital “L”!

The annual celebration of what we call “Christmas” is wonderful. But what God the Holy Spirit is doing tonight is something far more important. The Spirit is inviting us into what is life-changing. It is an invitation to resist the darkness, and to walk, each day, in the Light that has come into the world!

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia